BREAKING: UP Could Annex HP

University Park officials are considering annexing Highland Park, a move that would dramatically change the political landscape of the Park Cities, sources said late Thursday.

The change would benefit both the city and the town, one source said, streamlining the two bodies’ zoning, maintenance, public safety, and other departments.

“Everyone’s trying to find ways to save money these days,” said a University Park employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “If we do this, both University Park and Highland Park would save a significant amount of money, and not have to raise taxes for a long, long time.”

A Highland Park official confirmed the plan, but stated, “it’s a long way from becoming reality.”

The proposal doesn’t appear on the agenda for Tuesday’s University Park City Council meeting; calls to City Hall were not immediately returned.

The idea of annexation started following the recent debate over HPISD funding, the University Park source indicated. Officials wanted to couch the city against any possible funding gaps it could face, and combining resources could do just that.

The Highland Park source reminded citizens that it’s April 1, and not to worry too much about the possible changes.

By Bradford Pearson Apr. 1, 2011 | 8:57 am | 9 Comments | Comments RSS
9 comments to "BREAKING: UP Could Annex HP"
  1. bob @ April 1, 2011 at 9:07 am
    Silly…..

  2. Merritt Patterson @ April 1, 2011 at 9:11 am
    Brad, this raises a whole lot of questions. Off the top of my head:

    1. How would this impact the HP Community League? http://www.parkcitiespeople.com/2010/05/03/highland-park-community-league-shares-address-with-hp-town-hall/

    2. And annexing 2 cities/towns that both sell alcohol in groceries stores, well, wouldn’t that make the Park Cities like Vegas almost? At least like Lubbock somehow?
    http://www.parkcitiespeople.com/2010/10/27/mayor-dick-davis-and-his-people-fight-to-keep-university-park-from-looking-like-lubbock/

    3. What would we call the city? Or would it be a town? I know HP is super proud about being a “town.”

    4. This isn’t a question, just an observation. City government elections would rock!

    5. Which guy would be mayor?

  3. DemBones @ April 1, 2011 at 9:31 am
    Happy April Fools to you, too.

  4. MGBHstar @ April 1, 2011 at 9:52 am
    Great News! Perhaps we should take the next logical step and put up a wall around the new entity and charge outsiders to pass through.
    We should also force all the residents who technically live in Dallas to go to DISD schools.
    Great April Fool’s Day story

  5. MGBHstar @ April 1, 2011 at 9:59 am
    One other thing – Will Beecherl for mayor – it’s time for the younger generation to be running our fine city/town.

  6. Hugh stephenson @ April 1, 2011 at 3:40 pm
    Great. Incompetence expands from UP to include HP. Let’s just make Ray Hunt mayor for life.

  7. The Horny Bastard @ April 1, 2011 at 3:57 pm
    Will Beecherl? Hell naw. Maurice Syrquin for mayor, it’s about time we had some diversity leading this town.

  8. HP @ April 3, 2011 at 8:36 pm
    Maurice Syrquin would be a great mayor.

  9. Rational Thinker @ April 4, 2011 at 12:28 pm
    Please do it! There would be more money for parks, more money for infrastructure, economies of scale, etc.

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